A remarkably astute historical depiction combined with an engrossing political drama.
In a work of historical fiction set in the first century B.C.E., Mariamne of Maccabee struggles to juggle her marriage to power-hungry Herod the Great with her loyalty to the Judea he wishes to conquer.
Mariamne waits excitedly to hear her grandfather—Hyrcanus, the governor and high priest of Judea—announce to whom she will be wed. Given the parlous political times, she assumes it will be to another Maccabee to preserve the purity of the dynastic royal line from which she descends. Her world suddenly tilts when Hyrcanus announces that he’s chosen Herod, the governor of Galilee, an old man already married and largely considered a puppet of Rome and, most importantly, not a Maccabee. She protests the planned union, but her grandfather has already made up his mind, thinking the arrangement is the most effective way to secure the eventual ascension of her brother, Aris, now only a boy, to the Judean kingship. Herod unabashedly reveals his intentions to become the king, an admission that not only disgusts Mariamne, but floods her with ambition, not only for Aris, but for herself, an internal conflict sensitively portrayed by debut author Okun: “Queen Mariamne? I rather liked the sound of it. I could be the mother of kings. I could produce the man who wore the crown of Judea.” The author dramatically chronicles her precarious position, which only grows more dangerous as Herod perceives her disdain for him and begins to question her loyalties. Okun’s research is marvelously meticulous. She deftly unravels the complex political entanglements of the time. Moreover, she brings them to vivid life, detailing the frustration of Judeans with the arrogantly dismissive Roman rule. The heart of the tale, however, is Mariamne’s psychological depth. The author resists a hagiographic urge to transform her into a simplistic hero, a decision that ultimately makes her plight all the more deserving of empathy. Okun’s first novel is a rare combination of historical scrupulousness and fictional artistry.
A remarkably astute historical depiction combined with an engrossing political drama.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73398-831-5
Page Count: 346
Publisher: Palace Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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